Defending champion Sebastien Bourdais has commenced his campaign to win three successive Champ Car world titles in style by dominating a strong field at the season opener in Long Beach this morning (Sunday US time).

The 27-year-old Frenchman won the 76-lap street race by more than 14 seconds from Brit Justin Wilson with a great result for Team Australia with Alex Tagliani finishing third.

In more positive news for the second-season Team Australia outfit, Toowoomba driver Will Power produced his second top-10 result in only his third start.

The 25-year-old Queenslander placed ninth out of the 18-strong driver field, one place behind the first full-time female Champ Car driver in Katherine Legge.

Bourdais who drives for Newman Haas Racing was the fastest all weekend, claiming pole position yesterday, leading the most laps today and recording the quickest lap of the race.

“There really wasn’t much more we could have hoped for today,” said Bourdais.

“We just stayed focused and hung in there - it was perfect from the very beginning to the end. I think the lap time we set during the race speaks for itself - the car was just great. I was able to just pull away every time there was a yellow flag.”

In his third Champ Car season, RuSPORT driver Wilson started on the front row and was never behind anyone but Bourdais.

Team Australia’s Canadian pilot Tagliani was the big mover in the race rising from seventh position on the grid to third by the end of lap two. He stayed clear of trouble as championship contenders Paul Tracy, A.J. Allmendinger, Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia were all involved in a first lap, first turn incident that ended their race.

Tagliani continued an excellent start to the season for Team Australia to grab a podium result - his third for Team Australia after third placings in Monterrey and Toronto last year.

“I anticipated the start a little bit but had to take three different lines coming into the opening turn with all of the action going on in front of me. We were lucky that we came out of it clean,” said Tagliani.

“From there it was a case of sticking to our strategy and keeping my nose clean for the remainder of the race. All throughout the race the car was very consistent and it was good to reward the team for their hard work in the off season with a podium finish.”

Forsythe Championship Racing’s Mario Dominguez was fourth with Dale Coyne Racing's Cristiano da Matta fifth. Legge’s eighth position was also the highest ever finish by a woman in a Champ Car race.

Power was running as high as fourth after the first round of routine pit stops but had to settle for ninth at the finish. This was due to an incident with Dominguez on lap 35 which brought out a yellow flag, and going into the run-off area on lap 55 after making a pass to reach seventh.

“I was pretty happy with the weekend, but I just made a couple of mistakes too many,” said Power.

“(Mario) Dominguez was attacking me and I just braked too late. Then I could not get out of the run-off area and lost too much time and ended up at the back of the pack.

“There is no doubt that I learnt a lot this weekend and I will carry that into future races. The car was quick, I was quick and my fitness level has been strong.

“We could have finished with a better result here, but we did finish and escaped with some points. I think we have some good times ahead of us.”

The second round of the Champ Car World Series is in Houston on May 13.

Queensland will host Round 14 of the Champ Car World Series with the Lexmark Indy 300 to be held from October 19 to 22. The annual Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast is a partnership between the Queensland Government and IMG.

Round 1 – Long Beach - Race Results
1 - Sebastien Bourdais (Newman Haas Racing) 74 laps Active
2 - Justin Wilson (RuSPORT) 74 laps Active
3 - Alex Tagliani (Team Australia) 74 laps Active
4 - Mario Dominguez (Forsythe Championship Racing) 74 laps Active
5 - Cristiano da Matta (Dale Coyne Racing) 74 laps Active
6 - Andrew Ranger (Mi-Jack Conquest Racing) 74 laps Active
7 – Jan Heylen (Dale Coyne Racing) 74 laps Active
8 – Katherine Legge (PKV Racing) 74 laps Active
9 – Will Power (Team Australia) 73 laps Active
10 – Antonio Pizzonia (Rocketsports Racing) 73 laps Active
11 – Dan Clarke (CTE Racing – HVM) 72 laps Active
12 – Charles Zwolsman (Mi-Jack Conquest Racing) 67 laps Contact
13 - Nelson Philippe (CTE Racing – HVM) 46 laps Mechanical
14 - Jimmy Vasser (PKV Racing) 24 Laps Mechanical
15 – Bruno Junqueira (Newman Haas Racing) 1 lap Contact
16 - A.J. Allmendinger (RuSPORT) 0 laps Contact
17 - Paul Tracy (Forsythe Championship Racing) 0 laps Contact
18 - Oriol Servia (PKV Racing) 0 laps Contact